Read it: Ephesians 4:28
Live it:
How you handle your time and talents are important; how you handle your treasure is also important. By treasure, I mean the finances that God entrusts you to steward.
I grew up in a family that didn’t have a lot of treasure. We had to take care of the things that were given to us because they would not be replaced if we didn’t. Twenty years ago, I heard something that gave me a new perspective on this. I had the opportunity to hear from Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, Arun Gandhi. He obviously spent a lot of time with his famous grandfather when he was a child.
He told me a story about his famous grandfather. The grandson said that when he was a kid, he had a pencil. He used it all year, and when it got to a point where it was simply a stub with the pencil tip, he threw it away. He came home and his grandfather saw that he no longer had the pencil and asked him about it. Arun said it wasn’t useful anymore. Gandhi made his grandson go back in the darkness of night and find that pencil.
Now, my point is not to use your pencils until you can’t use them anymore. You may not even use pencils anymore. The point is this: don’t waste your resources. Don’t waste the opportunity to steward your resources to the best of your abilities. Some of you may feel like that pencil: no longer useful due to the choices you are making. Our scripture reading today reminds us that God has not discarded you. In fact, he is willing to go into the darkness and pursue you. But, if our identity is in sin, we are separated from him when we engage in that sinful activity. So, we need to quit the sin and do something positive. Is there any sin that you can replace with something positive? Start today.
Ps. James